Readers

Monday, September 8, 2014

This recipe was inspired by eating clams and thinking about how we can use them in a recipe (we did a dairy-free clam chowder last year), and also by a recipe we discovered in a cookbook found digging around in a thrift store.

The cookbook is a 1936 edition of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book. The recipe is simple: it proposes mixing 2 parts clam juice and 1 part tomato juice. Nothing more.

Intrigued and inspired, I started digging around. The closest thing I found to a modern-day clam cocktail is Clamato, which is a cocktail mix that is apparently quite big in Canada, Mexico, and on cruise ships. It is sometimes mixed with things like vodka, and sometimes even like beer. After trying something I found somewhere that strangely suggested mixing half part the mix and half part beer, I can report to you that I am not among those gourmands that enjoy this peculiar beverage (it tastes just how it sounds).

Dissatisfied, we decided to make our own version. We mixed and measured and sampled until the combination of ingredients seemed just right.

For the clam-squeamish, don't be. If you like Bloody Marys, you will like this one. It is closest to that, except with a clammy twist of je ne sais quoi. For more seafood and cocktail inspirations, you can try our Bloody Mary shrimp cocktail.